The Pentagon asks for $30.3 million over five years to develop an AI-enabled lie detection system, according to a US Department of Defense budget request. The effort, described as “Polygraph+” or “Polygraph Next,” focuses on improving scoring methods using machine learning and on a sensing approach intended to reduce or eliminate direct physical contact.
Coverage across outlets says the program appears in the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency’s budget materials, with reporting based on documentation summarized by independent technology and defense reporters. One outlet characterizes the goal as reading signals from the body at a distance, using “standoff sensing,” while another emphasizes the budget and the technical components—AI-driven scoring algorithms and the sensing technique. MIT Technology Review also notes it has sought expert views on whether such an approach could work in practice.
Overall, the sources agree on the requested funding level, the program name and timeframe, and that the system combines AI/ML scoring with standoff sensing. Differences center on how outlets frame the plausibility and the emphasis placed on the “read from afar” aspect versus the broader research and budgeting details.
